"omelette" news and stories

The nation's only Giant Omelette Celebration will mark its 25th anniversary this weekend by adding one more egg to its 12-foot skillet.

The town of Abbeville, La., in 1984, joined the confederation of seven cities from Argentina to Belgium that annually commemorates Napoleon's order for a tiny town in southern France to produce an army-sized omelette. Bessieres upheld the tradition long after Napoleon's troops had gone, cooking oversized omelettes at Easter to feed the poor. The practice has thrived in places where locals fret about losing touch with their Francophone heritage.

But that doesn't mean the Abbeville cooks are entirely faithful to the recipe favored by Monsieur Bonaparte: Festival president Gordy Landry reports, "we add a Cajun flair."

"Most of the other giant omelettes are a little bit plainer and not quite so tasty," he continues. "In France, they just stick to the eggs. In Canada, they add some ham. But the only place that puts crawfish in is us."

Oh no, not another dried out flavorless omelette! Are you tired of inconsistently making decent omelettes? One of my favorite meals is a simple omelette that's done to perfection. This means it's dry on the outside and rich and creamy on the inside.

Eggs are wonderful because they are such versatile ingredients and work in preparations from simple to complex, baked to fried, sweet to savory. More often than not, the simplest egg preparations will be the ones that we use most - scrambled eggs, fried eggs, poached eggs and boiled eggs - but with only a bit more effort, some really spectacular dishes can emerge. Omelettes, Souffles & Frittatas is about those slightly more complex preparations, which may take slightly more thought than a fried egg, but are wonderfully simple compared to most dishes.

The recipes for omelettes and frittatas are classical, but simple. The details on technique are easy to follow and the book offers helpful visuals. Although souffles may be approached with trepidation by many cooks, they are just as easy as the other dishes in the book thanks to the reassuring instructions. Recipes include White Chocolate Souffle with Raspberry Sauce, Artichoke and Red Onion Frittata and German Bacon and Potato Omelette.

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